| Cryptophialus minutus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Thecostraca |
| Subclass: | Cirripedia |
| Order: | Cryptophialida |
| Family: | Cryptophialidae |
| Genus: | Cryptophialus |
| Species: | C. minutus |
| Binomial name | |
| Cryptophialus minutus | |
Cryptophialus minutus is a species of barnacle. One cluster in particular, dubbed Mr. Arthrobalanus, is notable for being the impetus for Charles Darwin's "Cirripedia project" and obsession with barnacles.
Cryptophialus minutus is a small (2 mm) cirripede that has no shell. It mechanically burrows into the shell of host organisms such as Concholepas peruviana . [2] Unlike many barnacle species, C. minutus is not hermaphroditic. Males are much reduced, one-tenth the size of females, and missing features such as a head and stomach. Males serve little purpose besides reproduction. [3]
Mr. Arthrobalanus was the name given to a colony of C. minutus that Darwin collected off the coast of Chile in 1835. He referred to it as his "little monster" as he was vexxed by the taxonomy of the species. He published his initial examination in 1846. [2] When Darwin requested other barnacle specimens from research institutions to compare to Mr. Anthrobalanus, he realized the existing work on the subject was insufficient. As a result, Darwin decided to circumscribe the broader taxa. [3] Invested deeply in the work, he continued his efforts against the recommendation of his doctors after his health began to fail. [4] He finally returned to Mr. Anthrobalanus in 1853. [2] It was formally described in 1854. [5]
Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar nauplius larvae. Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebrates; many species live in shallow and tidal waters. Some 2,100 species have been described.
Johannes Japetus Smith Steenstrup FRS(For) HFRSE was a Danish zoologist, biologist, and professor.
Thecostraca is a class of marine invertebrates containing over 2,200 described species. Many species have planktonic larvae which become sessile or parasitic as adults.
The Chthamalidae are a family of chthamaloid barnacles, living entirely in intertidal/subtidal habitats, characterized by a primary shell wall of eight, six, or four plates, lacking imbricating plate whorls, and either membraneous or more rarely calcareous basis. They are not found below immediate subtidal habitats, and more likely are found in the highest tier of shallow-water barnacle fauna. They can be found in the most rigorous wave-washed locations, and some species are found in the surf zone above high tide mark, only receiving water from wave action at high tide. The family includes at least 56 recognized species.
Acorn barnacle and acorn shell are vernacular names for certain types of stalkless barnacles, generally excluding stalked or gooseneck barnacles. As adults they are typically cone-shaped, symmetrical, and attached to rocks or other fixed objects in the ocean. Members of the barnacle order Balanomorpha are often called acorn barnacles.
Whale barnacles are species of acorn barnacle that belong to the family Coronulidae. They typically attach to baleen whales, and sometimes settle on toothed whales. The whale barnacles diverged from the turtle barnacles about three million years ago.
Concholepas concholepas, the Chilean abalone or Peruvian tolina, is a species of large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk. Despite the superficial resemblance, C. concholepas is not a true abalone, but a member of the family Muricidae, also known as murex snails or rock snails. This species is native to the coasts of Chile and Peru, where it is called loco, pata de burro, tolina, or chanque.
Chthamalus is a genus of barnacles that is found along almost all non-boreal coasts of the northern hemisphere, as well as many regions in the southern hemisphere. These small barnacles have been studied in part because of the taxonomic confusion over a group of species that, by and large, are morphologically and ecologically quite similar. In recent years, molecular techniques have identified a number of cryptic species that have been subsequently confirmed by taxonomists using morphological measurements. Most recently the genus has been shown to be paraphyletic, with the genus Microeuraphia nested within Chthamalus.
Balanus nubilus, commonly called the giant acorn barnacle, is the world's largest barnacle, reaching a diameter of 15 cm (6 in) and a height of up to 30 cm (12 in), and containing the largest known muscle fibres.
Amphibalanus improvisus, the bay barnacle, European acorn barnacle, is a species of acorn barnacle in the family Balanidae.
Megabalanus stultus is a species of barnacle first described by Charles Darwin in 1854. It lives on fire corals of the genus Millepora in the Atlantic Ocean from Florida to southern Brazil.
Notochthamalus scabrosus, the only species in the genus Notochthamalus, is a species of barnacle found along the south-western and south-eastern coasts of South America, from Peru to the Falkland Islands. The species is found almost exclusively higher in the intertidal zone than the mussel Perumytilus, often codistributed with the confamilial barnacle Jehlius cirratus and Balanus flosculus.
Megabalanus tintinnabulum is a species of large barnacle in the family Balanidae. It is the type species of the genus. The specific name comes from the Latin tintinnabulum meaning a handbell and probably refers to the fact that small groups of barnacles resemble clusters of miniature bells.
Megabalanus coccopoma, the titan acorn barnacle, is a tropical species of barnacle first described by Charles Darwin in 1854. Its native range is the Pacific coasts of South and Central America but it is extending its range to other parts of the world.
Catomerus is a monotypic genus of intertidal/shallow water acorn barnacle that is found in warm temperate waters of Australia. The genus and species is very easily identified by whorls of small plates surrounding the base of the primary shell wall; no other shoreline barnacle species in the Southern Hemisphere has that feature. This species is considered to be a relic, as these plates are found only in primitive living lineages of acorn barnacles or in older fossil species. The fact that this is an intertidal species is unusual, because living primitive relic species are often found in more isolated habitats such as deep ocean basins and abyssal hydrothermal vents.
Chamaesipho is a genus of four-plated notochthamaline barnacles in the Pacific Ocean limited to Australian/New Zealand temperate waters. They are intertidal in preference, and tend to form crowded columnar colonies. They can be identified in the field by having a four-plated wall, an unfused rostrum, and narrow opercular plates. Elminius, which also inhabits the same area, has four plates in its shell wall. However, in Elminius, the rostrum and rostrolatera are fused completely, and the compound rostrum receives the alae of the adjacent carinolaterals. In Chamaesipho, the unfused rostrum bears alae, and closely resembles the carina in appearance.
The barnacle genus Nesochthamalus was erected by Foster & Newman, 1987, to include sole species Chthamalus intertextus originally named by Darwin in 1854. It is widespread on islands in Western Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, and presents combinations of unusual features which make easily recognizable for field workers. These include dirty white shell exterior with deep purple colored interior, operculars colored purple. Opercular plates on each side calcify together in all but youngest individuals, and cannot be separated or easily distinguished from each other. This feature is shared only by Rehderella belyaevi, but in latter species, scutum and tergum can be distinguished by raised ridge replacing old articular margin. Unique feature of Nesochthamalus is its basis. In young individuals, it is entirely membraneous, and with age, becomes secondarily calcareous progressively inwards, leaving only the center membraneous. As the basis calcifies, it rises off the substrate forming a saucer shape when viewed from the side. In addition, interior of shell is secondarily calcified.
Chthamalus fragilis is a small gray barnacle found in the upper intertidal zone of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, from approximately Cape Cod southward to Florida and into the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. It is also commonly known as little grey barnacle. The species is believed to have been distributed only as far northward as North Carolina or Virginia until the late 1800s, when it was noticed along the Massachusetts coast. The species may have expanded its range naturally or been introduced to New England through anthropogenic activities. Chthamalus fragilis is unusual in that it often recruits to stems of Spartina alterniflora.
Coronula diadema is a species of whale barnacle that lives on the skin of humpback whales and certain other species of whale. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1767 12th edition of his Systema Naturae.